Robert Easton was an extremely interesting character actor, always playing
the young country hick or yokel and always fun to watch. Tall and gangly,
with a mop of whitish-blonde hair, wide eyes and a slow southern drawl he
made his movie appearances memorable. He was born Robert Burke on November
23, 1930 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a child he appeared on 'Quiz Kids'
a renowned radio program for children with high IQs. He moved to San Antonio,
Texas for a time and attended Texas University at Austin where he was initiated
into Phi Eta Sigma Fraternity, a national honorary scholastic fraternity
for men. He made his film debut in "Undertow" (1949) as Fisher.
His other film credits include: "The Red Badge of Courage" (1951)
as Thompson, one of his good roles; "Drums in the Deep South"
(1951) as Jerry; "O. Henry's Full House" (1952) uncredited as
a Yokel; "Bells on Their Toes" (1952) as Franklin Dykes; "The
Neanderthal Man" (1953) as Danny, a Townsman; "The Kettles in
the Ozarks" (1956) as Lafe; "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"
(1961) as Sparks; "The War Lover" (1962) as Handown; "Come
Fly with Me" (1963) as Navigator; "Paint Your Wagon" (1969)
as Atwell; "The Touch of Satan" (1970) as Mr. Keitel; "Johnny
Got His Gun" (1971) with Timothy Bottoms, as Third Doctor; "Pete's
Dragon" (1977) as Store Proprietor; "Working Girl" (1988)
with Melanie Griffith & Sigourney Weaver, as Armbrister; "Star
Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1992) as Klingon Judge; "Pet
Semetary II" (1992) as Priest; "Needful Things" (1993) as
Lester Pratt; "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1993) as Mayor Amos Jasper
and "Primary Colors" (1998) with John Travolta, as Beauregard.
He is best known these days as an expert dialect coach and a master of dialects
of the world. On TV he was best known as a voice of the puppets Phones/X20
on the children's series "Stingray" (1964) and as Mayor George
Sibley on the mini-series "Centennial" (1978). He also appeared
in TV movies including: "Charleston" (1979); "Jacqueline
Bouvier Kennedy" (1981) and "Long Gone" (1987). He has also
appeared on numerous TV series such as: "Gunsmoke"; "Wagon
Train"; "Rawhide"; "The Andy Griffith Show"; "The
Munsters"; "Perry Mason"; "Combat" and "Kolchak:
The Night Stalker." In recent years he is sporting long white hair
and a long white beard.
